[Bug 77986] stopping kdm leaves the Virtual Terminals invisible

[RichardNeill]

Public bug reported:

Binary package hint: kdm

In normal use, I have all 6 virtual terminals working fine. I can switch
between them with Ctrl-Alt-Fx and log in.

If I switch to VT1, and do "/etc/init.d/kdm restart" , then that also works. However, if I just do /etc/init.d/kdm stop, the screen goes blank, and I can't see any text.
   The VTs do still work fine, including switching among them, but I have to log in and type blind.

To recover, type "/etc/init.d/kdm restart"  (/etc/init.d/kdm start ought
to work, but doesnt).


I'm using a standard install of Edgy, and modified the kernel command line (in grub) to be this:
   kernel          /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.17-10-generic root=/dev/sda5 ro splash=verbose panic=60 vga=794
The vga=794 makes the screen resolution higher at the VT, and removing "quiet" + adding "splash=verbose" seems to be necessary to get boot messages to show, and to enable the VTs normally.


BTW, for anyone else in this situation:

a)The commands you need are:
     Alt-SysRQ-R
      Ctrl-Alt-F1
     [username]
    [your password]
    /etc/init.d/kdm restart

b)When blind typing, try   echo -e  "\a"   which will make the system beep, and confirm that it's still "listening".
   Also, try    echo "something" | festival --tts     which will allow you to hear the output of commands spoken.

** Affects: kdebase (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: Unconfirmed

-- 
stopping kdm leaves the Virtual Terminals invisible
https://launchpad.net/bugs/77986